Posts Tagged ‘Native American Studies Week’

From Native American activism in the Dakota Access Pipeline movements to the exploration of symbolism in contemporary artwork, four female panelists will discuss their roles in modern Native movements during the “Activism of Native Women” symposium on Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2018, from 2 – 4pm.

Held at USC Lancaster’s Bundy Auditorium, at UNC-Lancaster in Lancaster, the symposium takes place in conjunction with the Native American Studies Center’s 13th Annual Native American Studies Week.

“In most current activism movements of the 20th-21st century, what you typically see is that Native women are at the forefront of these movements,” said Dr. Brooke Bauer, a citizen of the Catawba Indian Nation and a USCL Assistant Professor of Native American Studies and History.

Dr. Elizabeth Ellis, a citizen of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and an Assistant Professor in the History Department at New York University, will present “In the Wake of Standing Rock: Activism, Academia, and the Fight for American Indian Sovereignty in the 21st Century.” Ellis will discuss her activism as a leader with the Philadelphia Standing Rock gatherings supporting the Standing Rock water protectors of North and South Dakota.

Dr. Courtney Lewis, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina Columbia, will present “The Subversive Act of Indigenous Small Business Ownership,” taking a look at economic development in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Jamie Powell is a citizen of the Osage Nation and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She will present “An Ethnography of ‘The Field:’ Contemporary Art and Critical Interventions,” discussing her research of Osage ribbon work, inspired by her grandmother, renowned ribbon worker Georgeann Gray Robinson.

Marvel Welch of the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, will present “Future in Tomorrow’s (FIT),” taking a look at the Indian Child Welfare Act in North Carolina.

After the panel, hear Catawba activist and keynote speaker DeLesslin George-Warren present “Remembering the Past, Healing the Present, and Creating the Future,” also in Bundy Auditorium. George-Warren will discuss the history of presidential policies toward indigenous people and his work with the Catawba language revitalization project. Refreshments will be served at 5pm and George-Warren will speak at 5:30pm.

The “Activism of Native Women” symposium, “Remembering the Past, Healing the Present, and Creating the Future,” and other events offered during Native American Studies Week are sponsored in part by OceanaGold/Haile Operation. Events are free and open to the public.

Demonstrations and exhibits of Native American arts and crafts, a Saturday cultural festival, lectures, films, and a day-long archaeology conference will be featured as USCL celebrates is seventh annual Native American Studies Week. This year’s free and public events are linked to the week’s theme, “Native Knowledge: Looking Back—Moving Forward,” as scholars and guests examine Native American history and culture, particularly in regard to education. The week kicks off on Friday Mar. 23 with a day-long conference highlighting work conducted by archaeologists from area educational institutions. Archaeologists from UNC, USC, Winthrop University, and USC Lancaster will discuss work conducted in the Catawba/Wateree Valley, covering over a thousand years of occupation, settlement, exploration, and colonization.

Events continue Saturday with a Native American festival, featuring drummers, dancers, arts and crafts vendors, and educational and children’s activities, including a Catawba language puppet show. Monday Mar. 26 features a day of lectures and panel discussions, beginning with a talk by Dr. Will Goins, educator and CEO of the Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois, United Tribes of South Carolina. The lecture will focus on the little-known history of Native American schools in South Carolina. While the history of segregation-era schools established for white and African-American citizens is well known, few are familiar with the schools created for Native American students, who were often ignored in the b-racial South (This topic will be continued on Wednesday with lectures by USCL Archivist Brent Burgin and UNC Pembroke Sociologist Michael Spivey). Monday afternoon will feature a panel discussion on Native American mascots in high school, college, and professional sports.

On Tuesday and Thursday, USCL faculty will screen films on Native American boarding schools to compliment Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s respective lectures by Dr. Goins, Professor Burgin, and Dr. Spivey. On Wednesday, leaders from South Carolina’s various tribal groups will be on campus to discuss issues important to their respective communities, and at 2:30pm, the campus will host a public meeting of the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs Native American Advisory Committee. Native American Studies Week 2012 closes out on Thursday afternoon with a lecture by anthropologist Sarah Quick, who will discuss Native American musical traditions, and an opening reception to highlight USCL’s new exhibit of Native American traditional arts.

USC Lancaster’s Native American Studies Week events are free and open to the public. USCL’s Native American Studies Program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Charlotte Area Educational Consortium.

For more information, contact Dr. Stephen Criswell, Director of Native American Studies, at 803/313-7108 or by e-mail at (criswese@gwm.sc.edu). For full schedule, updates, and additions, visit (http://usclancaster.sc.edu).